


These Alaskan Nights

by kensington_queen



Category: Life with Derek
Genre: Banter, Dasey - Freeform, Derek wants Casey and Casey wants Derek, F/M, Outdoor Sex, Shameless Smut, Slow burn? Not in this house, Sneaking Around, Summer Vacation, confronting feelings, fast pace relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:23:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27703406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kensington_queen/pseuds/kensington_queen
Summary: A year after their vacation at the Blue Heron Lodge, Casey and Derek are forced to confront their feelings for each other when the McDonald-Venturi clan are sent to Alaska to spend a few weeks with Nora's father at his small homestead.The rain pelted down on the mediocre shelter; Casey shivered as a gust of wind passed through. Derek shifted closer to her, tuning out Vicky's whining and Edwin's argument with Lizzie. He was utterly entranced by the warmth in her eyes, pulled to her like a moth to flame. She met his gaze, sucking in a breath when she realized how openly close he was to her. Why was it that whenever he was around, she forgot her common sense?
Relationships: Casey McDonald/Derek Venturi
Comments: 34
Kudos: 69





	1. Who Says You Can't Go Home?

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself I wouldn't post a story until I had one finished, and then I go and promptly do the exact opposite. Sigh. Posted as is. I will be editing it later. 
> 
> _Thought I made it clear, do I have to say it? It was always there, we just didn't see it. All I need is you and me and my home_ \- Will Ferrell and Molly Sanden, Husavik (My Hometown)

**New York City**

There were few things nowadays that could scare Casey after a year of dancing in New York. It was strange, almost, how a chaotic city could end up being a source of calm, but that was exactly how she viewed it. Though she grew up in Toronto - a big city in its own right - until aged fifteen, London, despite also having city status, seemed like a small town compared to the five boroughs that made up New York City. No, nothing really could scare her anymore after navigating the subway system at three am, or after being yelled at to be better by the dance company director, or even after the horrendous break up with Jesse when she realized they were completely incompatible. 

(“You always ignore me when he texts you,” Jesse had drunkenly screamed one night at a post-show party. “It’s like I’m the distraction, not him!”

“No I don’t,” she feebly defended, clutching her phone as it vibrated with another text. She wanted to answer it so badly. 

“Then turn off your phone for the rest of the night,” Jesse countered, getting up into her personal space. His eyes that night were blackened in a shade of fury that gave her a twisted sense of pride even when he made a move to snatch her phone out of her hands. 

“I have nothing to prove to you!” She had bellowed while backing away, tears blurring her vision as she stomped out of a fellow dancer’s Brooklyn apartment. It only took half a block before temptation became too strong and she checked the message, her mood instantly lifting.)

No. Nothing scared Casey anymore. 

Except her feelings of jealousy and regret when she thought about Derek at Queens on his own. But those could be stuffed down, down, way down. 

“Casey?” Dennis waved his hand in front of her face. “Earth to Casey.”

She tore her gaze away from the window that overlooked the city lights beyond their neighborhood, a guilty smile on her face. “Sorry Dad, I was just thinking about my to-do list before my flight home this weekend. I’m leaving with a lot of extra clothes and shoes than when I arrived; I need to sort that out.”

Dennis chuckled. “Have you confirmed with the university about your enrollment for next semester?” 

“Yeah,” Casey said, looking back out the window. She couldn’t see any stars in the sky with all the light pollution, but she imagined it was a clear night out. The weather had been hot lately as they inched toward early summer. “I’m glad I managed to squeeze in a few classes at NYU. They said I could probably graduate with my original class if I do winter and summer sessions.”

Her dad nodded, a fond smile on his face. “I don’t doubt you’ll manage it, sweetie. But remember to give yourself some time to adjust. Be kind to yourself.”

_Bzzz._

Her phone went off from its spot with a new text. She tried to pretend it wasn’t disappointment she felt when the name on the screen read Mom. 

_Call me please_

“Mom needs me to call her,” Casey told her father, excusing herself from dinner. She carried her plate to the kitchen, putting it away in the dishwasher before calling Nora from her room. Her brain came up with different scenarios that required her to call, not text, each one more worse than the last.

“Hello,” Nora cheerfully answered after a couple of rings. Well, no one has died or is in the ER, Casey wryly thought. 

“Hi Mom, what’s up? Everything okay?”

“Oh yes, sorry did I worry you?” There was chatter in the background on her mother’s end, the end of another dinner far away across the border. She thought she could hear Edwin and Lizzie, but then it got quieter. “Are you all set for the flight?”

“I’m mostly packed,” Casey replied, laying down on her bed. Suitcases half full were scattered around the room. Clothes were everywhere. Derek would have fun teasing her if he could see the state of her room, she mused. “And my enrollment is confirmed. I checked today.” 

“Oh good. We’re all so proud of you Casey, but I can’t wait to have you closer to home. Derek is getting you at the airport, he’s been home for a week so I thought -”

“Derek’s already home?!” Casey sat up, panicked. He hadn’t mentioned it at all, not once during all the times they were texting or sometimes chatted on the phone. She had mentally prepared herself to having to wait to see him, thinking he would want to linger around campus. 

“Yes?” Nora sounded unsure at her daughter’s response. “George has a big trial right now, so I thought Derek could pick you up while I watch the kiddos and get your favorite dinner ready. But if you don’t want him to -”

“It’s fine,” Casey hastened to reassure. And really. It was. She wanted to see Derek, even if it had been a couple months since he last made it down for a show. The fact that had been the weekend she and Jesse broke up for good was merely a coincidence, honestly. She shoved the memory of that away, too on edge about finally seeing Derek again, about the prospect of both of them being single at the same time for the first time. She thought too much about him, and her, sharing an apartment in the autumn at Queens. Her fantasies were starting to overtake her daily thoughts. 

“Okay good,” Nora paused, as if waiting to see if a sudden change of heart would come her way. When it didn’t, she continued. “By the way, I got an interesting phone call from Grandpa the other day.”

“Grandpa? Really? How is he?” Her mother’s father was often absent from their lives, popping up occasionally when he remembered to look at a calendar. Usually it was only when he realized a couple years had passed between visits or calls that delayed birthday cards and Christmas presents arrived. July Christmases were sometimes a thing in the McDonald household. 

“He wants us to go out to visit this summer, the whole family.”

“Wait, all of us? The Venturi’s too?”

Nora laughed at the reference from the previous summer with their visit to Grandma Felicia. “The whole family. And I do mean whole. He wants Fiona and Vicky to fly out too.”

She wrinkled her nose at the thought of spending a long length of time in the company of her cousin. “He’s not sick is he?”

“No, I don’t think that’s it. I think he wants some quality time with us like my mom got last summer,” Nora replied, a hint of laughter still gracing her voice. “What do you think kiddo? Want to spend some time in Alaska this summer?”

“It’s pretty much as opposite from New York as I can get,” Casey said, thinking it over. “If I say no, am I still obligated to go anyways?”

“Yes,” Nora automatically replied. “I know you and Derek are both off to Queens in late August, and you were probably hoping to relax until then, but I think a few weeks in nature will benefit everyone. George and I will be following with Simon, so -”

“Wait you guys aren’t going with us?”

“Not at first,” Nora clarified. “Grandpa really wants to spend time with all you older grandkids, so we’re sending you up there ahead of us.”

That didn’t seem very fair, Casey thought. She certainly wasn’t looking forward to being stuck with her cousin in the wilderness. Derek flashed through her mind for the hundredth time that hour. He was a different matter altogether. 

A crash in the distance ended the phone call a few minutes later, with promises of all of Casey’s favorite food waiting upon her routine. Immediately after hanging up, she hit the name at the top of her most recent calls. It picked up a second later. 

**London, Ontario**

It was a quiet night at Smelly Nelly’s. Derek leaned against the counter, looking out towards the tables where only a handful of customers were spread out. Toby, the waiter on duty with him, sat out of view on a box, a textbook in his hand. The clock on the wall above them read a quarter to eight. The night was going painfully slow. 

Just when he decided to wipe down the counter for the hundredth time, Derek felt his phone go off in his back pocket. Casey’s name flashed as he looked at it. 

“Toby, watch the floor,” he said, taking off in a hurry through the small kitchen where Silas the line cook was reorganizing pans and pots. Once out the back door, under the glow of the light above, Derek answered the phone. “Hey SpaceCase,” he effortlessly greeted, leaning against the hard wall behind him. A fly edged dangerously close to the light, catching his attention.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re already home?” She replied instantly in that tone of voice that was usually accompanied with a pout. He could see it clearly in his head, her blue eyes wide and her lips curling in that way that made him want to lose his sanity and kiss her. 

“Nora can’t keep a secret,” Derek said, shaking his head even though only the stupid fly could see him. “I was trying to surprise you.” 

“Aw, really?” That perked her up, just like he knew it would. “Well, did you know about the family trip we’re all going on?”

“What, back to Blue Heron Lodge? No one told me anything about that.”

“Nope,” Casey sounded smug. “Mom just told me.”

He rolled his eyes. The fly hit the light with a painful zap, fluttering away with a limp as he contemplated this news. “And you’re going to tell me, right?”

“Hmm, nah. Maybe I should leave it a surprise.”

“I could just hound the ‘rents later, Case. That ruins the whole surprise thing,” he pointed out. She huffed. 

“Fine, I’ll tell you.” She caved, pausing briefly. “Remember last year when I told you about my grandfather? My mom’s dad.”

“No,” Derek replied. “I do remember you getting us pulled over by the cops though.”

“Shut up, that was your fault too.”

“I wasn’t the driver,” Derek smirked, remembering how flushed she had been when the cop had questioned them. It had been adorable how easy it was to wind her up. 

“Whatever, Der. Anyways I’m pretty sure I told you about how Grandpa Rick went to Alaska after the divorce?”

“Vaguely rings a bell,” he said. “So we’re going to visit Nora’s dad?”

“Apparently. With the whole family. Mom said Vicky and Aunt Fiona are going too.”

Derek groaned.

“My sentiments exactly,” Casey said. “Anyways all I know is that we’re going before Mom and George and Simon. Grandpa is super insistent to spend time with the grandkids. It’s weird.”

Derek silently mourned the fantasies he had built up in his mind for the summer: hazy hot days lounging on the hammock, video games and beers with the guys, flirting with girls down at the local bar, Casey being jealous and wearing the tight skinny jeans she favored nowadays. Casey, Casey, Casey. All his fantasies had to do with a certain SpaceCase. 

“Uh,” He said, unsure what to say. “Hope your grandpa has a lotta room. I refuse to choke on Edwin’s farts again.”

“Ew, Der-ek!” She was laughing at least, he thought to himself. He missed her laugh. “I actually haven’t been to his cabin before. All I know is it's in a really small town just over the border, and that he built it himself.”

“I hope we’re not free labor for the summer,” Derek dryly said. “I’m supposed to be on vacation.”

“Me and you both,” Casey replied. A comfortable silence fell between them. She closed her eyes, falling back against her bed, closing her eyes and listening to him breath in that steady way of his. She could fall asleep like this. 

“Hey Spacey,” Derek reluctantly broke the silence a few moments later.

“Mmm?” Casey sleepily mumbled. 

“I need to get back inside work. I left the newbie to man the counter. It’s almost time to close for the night.”

“Okay,” she said; he could hear her turning onto her side. “I’ll see you on Saturday?”

“I’ll be the one with a keener-crossing poster, it’ll have your face on it with a warning label on it. Gotta warn the Canadian public that a clumsy keener is back in the country,” Derek teased. 

“Der-ek,” she yawned, weakly protesting. “Text me when you’re home so I know you didn’t crash the prince. I expect the full chauffeur treatment when you pick me up.”

“Case-ee,” he mimicked. “Fine, I will. Now, goodnight Spacey.”

“Night Der,” she softly replied, hanging up. 

Derek waited a moment before heading inside, allowing himself to feel excited about seeing Casey before the reality of it all came closing in. Things were different between them, since his last visit to New York. He wondered, not for the first time if he was to blame for the spectacular breakup between Casey and Jesse. Would she ever tell him the truth of that night?

He pushed himself off the wall, mentally blocking out the intrusive thought. He’d let his future self deal with that, along with the feelings he had been actively shoving away for the past several months - for the whole year. 

Unknowingly to him, several hundred miles away across the border, Casey was doing the same.


	2. Hello, Goodbye Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted as is, per usual. Also **warning** brief mentions of emotional abuse and gaslighting. 
> 
> +  
>    
> _I'm learning to fall  
>  I can't hardly breath  
> When I'm going down.._
> 
>  _You said you don't see  
>  I don't want to know that you know  
> It should have been me_ \- Boys Like Girls, Learning to Fall

**Toronto Pearson International Airport**

She spotted him waiting for her at arrivals, leaning casually on the security barrier that separated the public from the passengers walking through the heavy metal doors into the busy airport. Casey wanted to pause, to have a moment to collect herself before being in his close proximity. But a grumpy _harrumph_ from behind forced her to push the luggage trolley forward.

She caught the moment Derek spotted her; his entire demeanor shifted, an unreadable expression flashing through his brown eyes momentarily before being replaced with a sly look. He straightened up, mockingly bowing as she approached.

Much to her relief, there was no keener sign in his hands. They were empty, fiddling with the strings of his well worn Queens hoodie. She recognized it from the last time he was in New York for one of her final performances with the dance company. He had lent it to her after getting caught in a spring rainstorm while exploring the city together. It had smelled like him, and it had taken her whole resolve to graciously give it back before he left.

“Hey Spacey,” was that an affectionate tone she heard? She blinked, centering herself back into the present. He offered her a smile, brief but bright. “Welcome home.”

Casey’s stomach did a sudden _whoop_ , catching her quite off guard. She tore her gaze away from his, glancing down at the metal barrier separating them. Her traitorous brain for some reason began to wonder about a certain area of his that was hidden behind it. She flushed, embarrassed under his steady regard.

“I have a lot of luggage,” she blurted out, waving towards the pile of luggage in front of her. 

“ _Thanks Der, so happy to be back. Thank you sooo much for getting me, you’re the best,_ ” Derek replied, in his best Casey imitation. 

Casey ignored him, pushing the trolley to get out of the security door area. He walked along beside her on the other side of the barrier, meeting her where it ended.

“Let me,” he sighed, bumping her gently out of the way to take hold of the trolley. “I don’t think the prince can handle the weight of all this shit. Did you buy out all the shops in New York before moving back?”

“I accumulated a lot of things while living away,” Casey said, shrugging delicately. “Plus I have presents, but if you don’t want yours -”

“Nuh uh, no take backs,” Derek waggled his eyebrows. They stopped at the pay machine, where they argued over who was paying the expensive parking fee before moving on to arguing about who was driving as they walked to the car.

“You need to ease back into driving,” Derek opened the trunk, starting the stacking game with Casey’s suitcases. It was like real life Tetris. “You’re too used to the subway now.”

“I drove last time I was home!” 

“Yeah, at Christmas,” Derek countered. “It’s basically July, Case.”

“So? I haven’t lost the ability to drive,” she pouted. “Besides, it’s the least I can do, you drove all the way here!”

“I don’t think driving two hours on the highway is the best way to get reacquainted with the prince,” Derek said as he tried to fit in another suitcase into the trunk. “And I don’t want to die before dinner.”

“Ugh, whatever. Fine. But I get radio control.”

+

The drive home felt like slipping back in time; they bickered over the radio as Casey checked the gps more than necessary to make sure Derek knew where he was going.

“Why are you turning off here! It says to stay on this road for another half hour,” Casey complained halfway through the journey.

“Chillax Case, I’m _saving_ us a half hour by going this way.”

He wanted to tell her that the roads between London (not to forget Kingston too) and Toronto were so well memorized from the airport runs he had been doing the past year that he could drive it in his sleep. 

(All roads inevitably lead to Casey)

But instead his mouth continued with: “I mean if you want me to yourself for a bit longer you can just say so, I know plenty of alternative routes we can take.”

Casey coughed on the last bit of iced coffee she had left from the drive thru run an hour back, her cheeks staining to the pinkest of pinks. He hid a smirk, pleased at the reaction.

“The quicker we get home the better,” she merely replied, annoyed that her comeback game had weakened. Derek’s smirk grew.

“Hm, too bad. Maybe I wasn’t ready to share _you_ yet.”

Casey didn’t know what to say to that, so she instead played around with the radio. He let her, smiling the tiniest of pleased smiles at her reaction. The rest of the ride went in comfortable silence, interrupted with the occasional _Der-ek!_ when he took too long for Casey’s liking to press on the brakes. 

They made it one piece back to the house, where a huge banner hung outside on the porch:

 **WELCOME HOME CASEY!**

Just below it, a smaller sign with Casey’s face blown up read:

**BEWARE OF KEENER ******

“Derek!” Casey yelled, stepping out of the car before he had cut the engine. He dodged a shove when he came around the trunk to start unloading her luggage.

Nora and Lizzie came rushing out the front door, enveloping her into a big hug. Marti wiggled in between them, while George and Edwin waited with a very alert Simon who attempted to get out of his father’s arms. 

“Who let Derek hang that sign?” Casey demanded, extracting herself from the group hug.

“Don’t look at me,” Edwin put his hands up defensively. “Even I know better than to get you mad.”

“Hey Ed, help me with this crap,” Derek was attempting to pull out the luggage. If there was a quick exchange of money, Casey pointedly ignored it in favor of cooing over Simon. He had grown so much since she last saw him. His hair had darkened considerably with a curl. His eyes looked just like George’s, widening when she scooped him up. 

“Hi Simon,” she made a silly face.

“All my babies are home,” Nora smiled, sighing happily. “Come on in, Case. I have your favorite pasta meal cooking. I even got a bottle of that white you like so much….”

If driving home with Derek felt like slipping back in time, dinner truly cemented the surreal feeling Casey felt being back home after a year in New York. Her bedroom had not been touched, as Simon still lived in the basement with George and Nora, though there were plans in the near future to reconfigure the bedrooms. For the time being, she reclaimed her room. She “helped” Derek and Edwin bring up her luggage, ordering them where to place it all until it was haphazardly stacked in the way she wanted before rushing down for dinner. 

“Nora, what’s your daddy like?” Marti asked over a mouthful of garlic bread after Casey did the whole obligatory update of her life. None of the Venturis knew what to expect meeting Grandpa Rick, the mysterious man who had once been married to Felicia. 

“He’s a bit eccentric,” Nora thoughtfully answered. “He was a professor of environmental science for a couple decades at U of T -”

“So keenerism _is_ is a genetic thing!” Derek interjected, chomping on his garlic bread like he would potentially die if he did not inhale it right then and there. Casey wrinkled her nose in disgust as she noticed Edwin and George chewing the exact same way on the other end of the table.

“As is caveman tendencies. Better not reproduce Der. We don’t need anymore of your kind walking around.” 

Simon chose that moment to throw his plastic plate to the floor, as if emphasizing her point.

Derek waggled his eyebrows, his voice dropping in volume. “I dunno Case, the combined McDonald-Venturi genes haven’t gone wrong yet.”

Casey immediately blushed as Lizzie and Edwin exchanged a look at the blatant flirtation. They were so loud with it. How did their parents not notice it? 

_Binder_ Edwin mouthed to Lizzie. She nodded, strongly suspecting they would need a new one solely for their trip. They were going for three weeks. They had to be prepared for a lot of evidence. 

“But what is he like?” Marti asked again. “Does he like purple? Is he afraid of spiders like Smerek?”

“I’m not scared of spiders, Smarti,” Derek shook his head. “They’re scared of me.”

“So it was the spider screaming in the shower last week?” Edwin said, ducking as a piece of bread flew towards him. 

“No throwing food,” George tiredly said. Simon promptly threw his bottle to the floor.”Et tu, Simon?”

“Don’t worry Dad, with the Venturi genes and the uh, McDonald keenerism,” Derek ignored Casey’s glare, “the kid is in the running to be an ace athlete. That arm of his is being put to good use. We might have a future pitcher sitting with us.”

“Or a scientist,” Casey threw in. “Sports aren’t everything.”

“Says the girl who just danced professionally in New York,” Derek rolled his eyes. 

“Dance is not - wait, what?” She looked caught off guard. “Did you just admit dance is a respectable sport?”

“Whoa, I didn’t go that far Spacey,” Derek said, glancing at the clock. He scooted back his chair, his plate spotless. “Look at the time, I gotta run.”

“Where are you going?” Casey asked, a pout forming. He hadn’t mentioned working a shift. Maybe he was dating around again? Did he have a date? Maybe Sally was home from Vancouver. Would he seize the chance to try again with her? Or was it a different girl, one he knew from Queens? Casey’s stomach clenched.

“Secret,” Derek winked. _Winked!_ The audacity. 

“Oh, whatever, I’m sure it’s super lame.” Casey instantly said.

“If you think so, then you’re not invited to come.”

“I don’t want to go,” Casey replied, getting up and following him into the kitchen, plate in hand. They disappeared from view, though the bantering floated in. Lizzie shook her head, completely unsurprised when they reemerged together a few moments, heading for the door. 

“Be back later!”

“Midnight, curfew!” George half-heartedly called after them. “They’re not coming home for curfew, are they?” He asked the table. Simon drooled. “Yeah, probably not.”

“Oh Georgie, Casey has been living in New York with no curfew, and we know Derek,” Nora sympathetically said. “Let them go, they probably want to see friends. Alaska is soon, and then Queens for both.”

“Do we have to go to Alaska?” Edwin asked for the millionth time. “Last year at the lodge was plenty of nature for me, and that was fake compared to where we’re going.”

“You’re going. Everyone is going,” George said. “We’re going to have good ‘ole fashion family bonding without the distractions of modern life.”

Edwin stared at him. “Does that mean no wi-fi?”

“Yes,” Nora said, just as George said “Of course there’s wi-fi.” 

“Great,” Lizzie sighed, making a note to bring extra pens and paper. Her older sister and step-brother were going to be the main source of entertainment; there would be plenty of evidence to document.

+

Emily patiently sat on the little space available on Casey's bed, clothes and shoes and dance leotards scattered into piles around her. A suitcase lay open on the floor, with a few tops neatly folded in it.

Casey checked her list, muttering under her breath. 

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen your room messier than Derek’s,” Emily dared to say, laughing when Casey shot her a dark glare. 

“You try having to pack for university and a trip all the while trying to figure out what needs to go in storage,” Casey bent to examine a pair of dance shoes. She tossed them into a storage box before moving on to a pile of shirts. Emily recognized them as preppy ones that Casey had favored during high school. Only two of them made the cut, the rest went directly into the storage box. She didn’t think her best friend was all too different after a year in New York, at least not personality wise. But her fashion taste had matured; Casey always loved her bright colors, but the bubblegum pinks and turquoise blues had been switched in favor of bold reds and navy blue. City chic, Emily thought. 

She wondered if the old blue eyeshadow had been replaced too, but that was something she didn’t want to bring up just yet. Emily had something else more pressing on her mind. She watched for a few more moments in silence while debating how she wanted to venture into the breakup story with Jesse. Casey had been incredibly coy over the phone; Emily was dying for more details. 

“Sooo,” she said after Casey carefully folded a dark gray sweatshirt with the dance company’s name on it, placing it in the suitcase for Alaska. “When are you going to finally tell me about the breakup?” 

Casey briefly froze mid fold, dark wash skinny jeans in her hand. She took a deep breath before continuing to carefully fold. “There’s not much to say. We weren’t compatible.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “So you’ve said. But I know for a fact Derek was visiting that weekend. One minute he’s there, the next you and Jesse are done. Obviously there’s a story.”

“Derek is _not_ the reason we broke up,” Casey said, moving on to her leotards. She forcefully threw them into the storage box. “Not on my end, anyways.”

“Oh?” Emily’s eyebrows lifted. “But yes on Jesse’s side.”

“He was just so weirdly jealous all the time,” Casey finally said after a minute of thinking. She shoved clothes to the side to make room on the bed, sitting down. “Like way more than he should’ve been. Every time Derek called or texted he’d get upset. I couldn’t even mention his name in front of Jesse or else it would be a stupid fight.”

Emily nodded, encouraging her to continue. She herself had only met the guy once during a trip down to New York during spring break. He seemed nice enough, though a bit stone faced when the girls had reminisced about high school and stories filled with Derek, Sam, and Ralph. It hadn’t pinged on Emily’s radar as off at the time. 

“Like there was this one time at an after show party, where Derek had texted me. Jesse was a few drinks in and got so angry that my phone was in my hand. He tried to take it!”

“What?” Emily looked aghast. “You hadn’t told me that before.” 

Casey shook her head. “I didn’t tell anyone. Especially not Derek. He didn’t get violent or anything, just… moody. So moody.”

“Casey, he tried to take your phone. Physically. That is grade-A asshole behavior. Gaslighting is a very real thing.”

Casey sighed. “Yeah, I know. But he was so sweet most of the time.” She looked so dejected. “Derek came to visit like two weeks later for one of my last performances.”

“Mhm,” Emily nodded. “And…”

“And basically I was already on the verge of breaking up with Jesse. It was so emotionally _exhausting_ to have to watch what I mentioned about the family, about home, all the damn time. I had already made my decision to go back to school back around Christmas. Jesse told me I was throwing away my ‘career’ and by consequence, choosing Derek over him. ‘Like fucking always,’ he said.”

“What the fuck,” Emily said, outraged on her best friend’s behalf. “If he knew you at all, he would have known going to school was always important to you!”

“Exactly,” Casey huffed. “So Derek comes to visit, stays with me and my dad like normal. Jesse gives me the silent treatment all weekend long. But I didn’t even care. I forgot all about him the moment Derek arrived. At the show, Jesse openly flirted with some of the dancers in front of me. I didn’t even react. I just danced my heart out on stage.”

“Go you,” Emily said approvingly. 

“I wasn’t going to let him ruin one of my last performances!” Casey exclaimed, before deflating again. “Anyways I had an awesome time with Derek, making me realize how much I missed him…” Emily’s eyes widened. Finally! Was Casey finally making amends with her feelings? “And that what I wanted was so completely different from what Jesse wanted. We weren’t compatible in the long run.”

“So you broke up…” Emily hedged, eager for more. 

“So I dropped Derek off at the airport, and when I got home, Jesse was waiting outside my dad’s apartment. We argued in the street. I told him we were over. He said I was making the biggest mistake of my life, and I replied: _the biggest mistake so far was going to New York with him._ ”

“Oh my god,” Emily gasped. A rush of pride swelled up inside her chest for her best friend. “That was an amazing comeback, Case!”

“Ha,” Casey smiled weakly. “Thanks. I did feel quite proud of myself at that moment.”

“As you damn well should!” Emily gave her a big hug. “Now that assface is out of the way -” Casey laughed, surprising herself. “You can focus on what’s important.”

“Catching up with my academic work at Queens?” Casey guessed.

Emily shot her a look. “Derek. Specifically, you and Derek.”

“There is no me and Derek,” Casey replied defensively. “The breakup had nothing to do with him, remember?”

Emily rolled her eyes, hard. “Casey, I say this as your best friend, and as someone who briefly dated the boy, but you two have never been merely step-siblings. I’m pretty sure they could see the attraction between you guys in outer space.”

“He doesn’t even feel the same,” Casey insisted. “So it doesn’t matter.”

“He doesn’t feel _the same_?” Emily perked up. “Trust me Casey, he feels the same…”

“I didn’t mean it like that! _And no he doesn’t._ ” 

“Uh huh,” Emily shook her head. She took pity on her best friend, deciding to drop the subject. Clearly Casey needed to sort out her feelings - and Derek’s - at her own pace. “Let’s look over your list and see what's left to pack. You said there was a lake? Have you packed a swimsuit?”

Relief instantly washed over Casey’s face, happily taking the provided out. “Yeah, the whole town is along the edge of it I think? By the way, did I mention that Vicky is going?”

+

**Toronto Pearson International Airport: A week and a half later**

Morning had never been a friend of Vicky’s. She had always struggled with waking up early. Seeing the sunrise never gave her that rush of motivation like it did for _certain_ people. She clutched her coffee, headphones in her ears as she sat in a chair by the departure gate, eyeing her cousins with thinly veiled disdain. 

Casey, always a go-getter, was practicing a discrete, “travel friendly” yoga off to the side near the windows. 

“It’s great for circulation pre-flight,” she explained before launching into complicated stretches. Derek sat near her, his feet on top of their carry ons with a set of headphones over his head. His eyes strayed from the magazine in his hand towards Casey at a steady one minute intervals; Vicky timed it.

Derek seemed to act like a physical barrier between the cousins. He placed himself near Casey, as though assigning himself as her personal bodyguard. Vikcy was pretty sure the boy didn’t even realize he was doing it. Casey herself refused to say anything beyond an icy _good morning, Vicky_ when they met up past security.

Kiss a girl’s boyfriend _one time_ and you’re public enemy number one for eternity.

Even Lizzie, the more tolerable cousin, didn’t do much to make Vicky feel better about being stuck in the wilderness with people who hated her. Her loyalty was to her sister. She sat nearby, lecturing the younger Venturi boy (Eduardo? Edward?) on the merits of a vegetarian based diet. 

Total normal conversation for - Vicky glanced at her phone - six am. 

Marti, the youngest in their group, sat on the floor reading a book upside down, a cat ear headband atop her head. She had hissed at Vicky earlier. Dealing with Casey in comparison was sunshine and roses than the open glares Marti served. At least Casey outright ignored her.

They hadn’t even left yet and already Vicky longed to be home. 

**FYI I resent you for this** she texted her mom. This whole bonding trip was a complete farce. Vicky already lived out of the house while at university. God forbid she impeded on her mother’s latest honeymoon stage with husband number four.

 **Have fun sweetie! Be mindful of the time difference when you land.** Vicky sighed, shoving her phone into her purse before vacating her seat. She needed another coffee, and a packet of ibuprofen for the inevitable headache that always found her while in the presence of family.

“Der-ek,” Casey’s voice cut through her headphones as she made her way towards the convenient shop. Vicky, for whatever reason, felt compelled to glance back towards her cousin and step-cousin. Derek was mimicking Casey’s yoga moves, doing an absolutely terrible job at it. Vicky didn’t miss the way her cousin’s eyes lit up around the insufferably cute hockey player, nor the way said guy watched for reactions. 

Hmm. Perhaps there was some entertainment to be had on this trip, especially once the whole family got together - if Vicky could help her clueless cousin along…

She continued on her way, mind churning as the echoes of Casey's exasperated laughter faded into the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we're in Alaska! The real fun begins ;)  
> Oh and! Don't be fooled. This is not a slow burn. I don't have the patience for that right now.


	3. I just can't (resist you): the lodge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Don't even talk about the consequence  
>  'Cause right now you're the only thing that's making any sense to me  
> And I don't give a damn what they say, or what they think, think  
> 'Cause you're the only one who's on my mind_ \- The Veronicas, Untouched.
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to Binx. <3
> 
> Posted as is, seeing that this chapter is a bit overdue and it's 1 am as I finally publish this. Enjoy ;)

It took four flights, and a day and a half to reach their final destination. Toronto to Vancouver. Vancouver to Seattle, where they had an overnight layover that consisted of sleeping in a small airport hotel and an argument over who slept where in the dingy suite their parents sprung for them. Then Seattle to Anchorage. Anchorage to Moose Lake, the small town that Casey and Lizzie’s grandfather called home in the wilds of Alaska. 

That last flight consisted of a small twelve seater passenger plane the sort where each passenger got a headset and lacked an aisle. Casey found herself seated beside Derek, who cheated her out of the window seat by mere seconds. On her other side Marti sat, holding her hand and eyeing the view outside curiously. Lizzie and Edwin sat behind them, next to Vicky who sat furthest away as possible from Derek and Casey. They were the only passengers on board, though there were lots of supplies in the storage hold destined for the residents of Moose Lake. 

The pilot was a jolly middle aged woman named Bridget who told them to keep an eye out their windows at the views they would be flying over. 

“Below us is Moose Lake,” she told them towards the end of the flight. A massive lake stretched out below them, flanked on both sides by heavy forestry that gradually lifted up into a mountain several miles away towards the west. “The settlement we’re headed for us is at the tail end of the lake, and only reached by plane or boat.”

It took another twenty minutes after that before Casey could see rising smoke in the distance, and a large clearing on the eastern side of the lake. She leaned over Derek to get a better look, her hand grabbing his thigh for support as she did. His eyes darted down as her grip tightened and her chest bumped into his arm. The contact made him sit up straighter, praying her hand wouldn’t stray further up his thigh because otherwise he would be in a very visible situation.

“Prepare for landing,” Bridget cheerfully announced a moment later, the plane starting its descent. Casey let go of his thigh, giving Derek momentarily relief as she adjusted back into her original stance. 

“Where are we landing?” Vicky asked into her headset, looking warily down to where the plane was headed. “All I see is a field! Where’s the airport?”

“That is the airport!” Bridget said in a distracted tone, the plane lowering further and further down. “Might be a bit bumpy, hold on.”

The words had barely left the pilot’s mouth when Casey’s hand found Derek’s thigh again, higher up and clutching on for dear life as the plane made a wide turn, the trees below them coming up towards them as they lowered and lowered. 

Derek placed his hand on top of Casey’s, fully intending on removing her death grip that was beginning to stir an uncomfortable sensation that he would prefer wasn’t in close proximity to their siblings and Vicky. But then when he went to move her hand, she flipped hers up and interlaced their fingers, all the while leaning into him. 

What else could he do but suffer?

Casey’s head next rested on Derek’s shoulder comfortably, a move she unconsciously did. It just felt safe, snuggling up to him. She couldn’t help it. It wasn’t like he was protesting it, either. He shifted so that his arm wrapped securely around her while their hands stayed together as a strong gust of wind knocked the plane around. Behind them, Lizzie and Edwin exchanged a wide eyed look, Edwin mouthing _oh my god_ while Lizzie suppressed a giggle. 

Eventually the plane landed with a hard bump, jolting the cozied up pair out of their cuddle fest. They untangled as the plane taxied around the field, both interested in pretending they weren’t openly holding on to each other for dear life. When the plane stopped beside a rustic building, and they were given the okay to deplane, Derek immediately hopped out of the plane’s side door. 

“Way to help us out,” Casey muttered under her breath, delicately stepping on to the plane’s outer step and jumping down to the ground. “I’ll help you Marti.” Her step-sister took her hand, jumping like a spider monkey into waiting arms. 

“Where are we?” Marti asked, clinging onto Casey’s neck briefly before letting go and landing on her feet. 

“Welcome to Moose Lake Airport,” Bridget said, coming around the side of the plane. “That there,” she nodded to the narrow log cabin off to the side, “is the terminal.”

A weather beaten sign that had Bridget’s words carved into it stood proudly outside the building. Further down the field, aviation storage hangers stood tall and proud, metallic and shining under the partly sunny sky. 

“Some of the residents own their planes, and keep them stored here,” Bridget answered the unspoken question in their eyes. “Right, I’m pretty sure Rick is supposed to be here to collect you guys, I told him three pm sharp. Probably lost track of the time again…”

“Should we get our stuff and go inside the terminal?” Casey asked, realizing that they were probably in the way of Bridget. She had several crates ready to be unloaded, and Edwin hanging off the plane and posing for a picture probably wasn’t helping. 

“I think it’s closed for lunch,” Bridget answered, shooing Edwin off the plane. “Bertie doesn’t normally have people lingering around when they arrive. It’s a formality, really. I could use a hand though.”

“Derek, help her,” Casey instantly said in a bossy tone. “Edwin you too.”

“What are you going to do Princess? Watch us?” Derek shot her an annoyed look while reaching for a crate that Bridget pulled out of the plane. 

“Of course not,” Casey looked offended. “I am a strong, capable female. But I need to get Marti and our stuff away from the plane. It’s dangerous.”

“It’s not even on anymore,” Edwin protested, his face red with exteration as he assisted Derek with another crate. “What’s in this?”

“I think that’s the gun crate for the Trading Post in town,” Bridget paused, looking it over. “Goes without saying to be careful with that.”

Edwin cast a suspicious look at the crate, stepping away from it as soon as he and Derek placed it on the ground away from the plane. 

Vicky rolled her eyes at her step-cousin’s alarmed look. She silently got her luggage off the plane, adding it to the pile Casey started before checking her cell phone. No signal.

Bridget noticed the disgruntled look on her face. “No tower cell in these parts,” she said laughing. “Most folks run on solar around here, and some have managed a shaky wi-fi connection. But cell phones are pretty useless.”

“Great,” Vicky muttered, slipping her phone away. 

A pick up truck rumbled up the field, the tires kicking up dirt as it headed for where they were all gathered.

“I thought you said there weren’t roads to get to Moose Lake?” Lizzie asked, confused. 

“Not to get here, but the folks who live here have roads to get around. Otherwise it’d take forever to get from point to another,” Bridget replied, waving to the truck driver as it parked beside the log cabin. “Hey Charlie!”

An older woman stepped gracefully out of the truck. She had long red hair with streaks of white in it tied back in a simple braid with a wide brimmed hat protecting her face, and wearing exactly the sort of outfit one might expect someone to wear living in a small rural Alaskan town, faded jeans, boots, and a flannel. 

“Hi Bridget,” Charlie greeted, her green eyes taking in the scene before her; Marti sat bored on her duffle bag, Edwin stood hunched over out of breath from lifting the last of the crates with Derek, Vicky was attempting to get signal again, Lizzie studied an Alaskan guidebook, and Derek and Casey… Well, they were Derek and Casey, bickering with each other over something completely minor yet totally consuming because it was an excuse to be in each other’s personal spaces. 

“I’ve brought the latest shipment,” Bridget said, handing an order sheet on a clipboard to Charlie to look over and sign. “Any sign of Rick? He has some valuable cargo to collect,” she caught Casey’s eye, winking. 

“He was just at the Trading Post,” Charlie scribbled her name on the order sheet, handing back the clipboard to Bridget who promptly ripped the top sheet off, giving it to Charlie.

“Well, hopefully he’s on the way. I need to start the journey back to Anchorage before it gets too late,” Bridget looked to the sky with a scrutinizing look. To Casey’s eyes the sky looked perfectly blue and calm, though admittedly she knew nothing about aviation. Maybe there was something about the breeze that made the pilot anxious to leave sooner rather than later. 

“Huh, well I can wait with them if you need to go,” Charlie said reassuringly. She looked around the group. “Are all of you Rick’s grandkids? I thought he mentioned granddaughters only…”

“We’re the bonus kids,” Derek piped up from beside Casey,. He gestured to Edwin and Marti. “Derek Venturi, the best one here. Pleased to meet you.”

“Der-ek,” Casey rolled her eyes. “If anyone is the best bonus kid, it’s obviously Marti.” She paused, realizing she should introduce herself. “Also hi, I’m Casey McDonald, one of Rick’s granddaughters. Please ignore this arrogant one when he speaks.” 

“You wound me Princess,” Derek said, shaking his head in mock disappointment. She made a move to shove him, or perhaps just poke him, but he anticipated that and grabbed her hand. He smirked at her annoyed expression, pulling her closer as she attempted to use her free hand to retaliate. 

“Smer-ek,” Marti pouted, imitating Casey perfectly. “Am I not the best kid?”

“You’re always the best, Smarti,” Derek replied, giving her a grin while his hand snuck its way onto Casey’s hip. Vicky watched with thinly veiled interest as her cousin leaned into the touch while all the same pretending to be annoyed. 

“Uh what I am, chopped liver?” Edwin asked, disgruntled. “Middle child syndrome is real folks, exhibit A right here.”

“Ew liver,” Lizzie made a face. “Gross.”

Poor Charlie. She stood there bewildered, unsure how to proceed as Bridget got the plane ready for a takeoff. 

It was great luck for the woman that that was the moment another pickup truck arrived down the field, speeding along the dirt track and screeching to a stop a few feet away from the group. Lizzie ran ahead as the door opened, revealing a salt and pepper haired man with strong muscles peeking out of his worn flannel shirt, and bright, sharp hazel eyes, radiating jubilant energy as he caught his youngest granddaughter in the arms. 

He resembled, to Derek, a cross between Clint Eastwood and Paul Newman, the old school rugged type that would certainly have no qualms telling off young men for touching his precious granddaughter. A gun belt was strapped securely on his waist, the hilt of the gun shiny and visible even in the distance. Derek hastily, reluctantly, let go of Casey. It gave him huge satisfaction that she immediately frowned when he released his hold on her.

“Casey, Vicky, don’t be shy, come say hello to your old grandpa!” Rick boisterously called out, his eye on Derek suspiciously. 

Casey’s gaze flickered briefly to Derek before running over to Rick, giving him a big hug. Vicky followed behind, albeit at a slightly slower pace. 

“Hi Grandpa,” Casey said, moving aside so Vicky could have her turn. “We were wondering where you were!”

“Just getting some supplies,” Rick said in a deep yet booming voice. “My my, all three of you have grown to be so lovely, just like your mothers.”

“Grandpaaa,” Vicky rolled her eyes, pleased with the comment. “Make sure you say that when my mom gets here, she’ll love the ego boost.”

“I’m sure she will, that’s my Fifi,” Rick chuckled. “Now, where are my new grandkids?!”

“Right over here, sir,” Derek said, walking up to Casey’s grandfather with a confident swagger he did not feel. He felt oddly nervous meeting Rick. He had pictured a keener old hunchback with a bowtie, not a flannel wearing, gun slinging man who looked like he knew a few tricks and then some. “I’m Derek, it’s nice to meet you.”

“And I’m Marti!” The youngest skipped up to Rick, hesitating slightly before giving him a winning smile. “Are you a cowboy like in the movies?”

This earned a huge guff of laughter from Rick, who bent down to Marti’s height. “Hi Marti,” he said, smiling. “No, I’m not a cowboy, just a simple man who lives in the wilds of Alaska. But I can pretend to be a cowboy if you’d like.”

Marti thought it over. “I think you’re fine the way you are,” she replied in a semi-serious tone. “You don’t have to pretend. Casey and Lizzie told me you like animals. Do you like purple too?”

“Purple is a great color,” Rick answered, straightening back up. He noticed Edwin standing on the fringe of the group. “And who are you? Let me guess, you must be Edwin!”

“Yes sir,” Edwin said, inching closer. “The one and only.”

“Rick,” Charlie’s voice cut in, a bit anxiously. “Sorry to interrupt, but could you give me a hand with this crate? It’s my last one.”

“Of course,” Rick flashed her a smile. “Kids, why don’t you throw your stuff in the back of my pickup, and we can sort out who sits where after? It’s a bit of a drive to my homestead.”

“Your grandpa is a real life cowboy,” Edwin whispered to Lizzie as they moved to toss their luggage into the back of the truck. “I don’t know whether to be in awe or terrified of him.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “He’s just Grandpa, Ed. There’s no reason to be scared of him.”

“I think Derek might be,” Edwin said, nodding towards his older brother. Derek hovered near Casey, helping her with their pile of luggage that somehow got stacked and mixed together. He kept casting Rick furtive looks, as though wary that the gun on the older man’s waist was going to aim in his direction at any moment for daring to be near Casey.

Lizzie giggled. “Well Derek might actually have a good reason to be scared of Grandpa. But you definitely don’t.”

“What’s their deal,” Vicky asked, coming from behind them. She tossed her bag into the back. “Are they together, or doing the whole pretending to not be together thing?”

“Um,” Lizzie and Edwin said at the same time. They gave each other an unsure look.

“Look, I really don’t care,” Vicky sighed. “But like that tension needs to be aired out, and I would prefer it to not happen in the same room as us. Catch my meaning?”

“We’re sleeping in the same room?” Edwin asked, horrified. “All of us?”

“Ew I hope not, you fart in your sleep,” Lizzie shuddered. 

“Grandpa’s cabin might not have a whole lot of space,” Vicky replied, giving Edwin a judgemental look. “I’m just suggesting that maybe one of them, or both, together, whatever, has their own space. I would like a peaceful time while stuck here.”

“Wait, double ew,” Lizzie made a face. “You want Derek and Casey to…”

“Don’t be immature, Elizabeth,” Vicky replied. “It’s so obvious they’re on the verge of it. God knows it’ll be quieter without them bickering, or whatever.”

“On the verge of what?” Edwin asked, confused. “Can someone clarify?”

“No,” Vicky and Lizzie said at the same time. 

“All I’m saying is that for once, I’m not going to put up a fight against Casey on anything while here,” Vicky turned away as Rick approached. “Grandpa, can I sit in the front with you? I would love to tell you about my school…”

Rick’s pickup truck, while spacious when not cramped with seven people, proved to be a tight fit when all of them piled in. Vicky and Edwin nabbed the coveted front seats with Rick, while Lizzie and Marti found themselves in the back with Derek and Casey. 

Casey told herself that it was just because of crowdedness that she ended up almost entirely sitting on Derek’s lap, and not because she wanted to be in it. Her hands had a mind of their own really, grabbing Derek when each bump on the rocky dirt road they drove over sent her jolting in her seat. 

Each time her hands touched him, every single time her nails tightened around his arm, Derek had to suck in a breath. Not from pain, though Casey always did have a stronger grip than one would think; no, every touch added to his adrenaline, threatening to send him over the edge. He craved her touch. 

To be fair, if Derek would for once be honest with himself - which he was getting better about - he always craved Casey’s touch. Since they were fifteen, conspiring to break up their parents and then fighting over bedrooms, he wanted to find any reason to get her riled up enough to touch him. Each poke, shove, bump of the shoulder or push and pull for the remote fed his addiction to the feel of her soft hands on his skin. 

And, continuing with honesty, he was starved for it. It had been a long year separated from each other. Having Casey back felt like breathing after suffocating and not even realizing it. How did he survive a whole year of not being able to breathe?

Queens offered ample opportunities to move on from his long suffering crush on her. Hockey and classes filled his time, though often he felt as though he fought an active battle proving he could make it without Casey’s help - he would never admit how much he relied on her stubborn keener study plans and pain in the ass, bossy, (hot) tendency to order him around. - So he tried hard. And didn’t fail. But it sucked not having her around, and the distractions he found with the occasional puck bunny or hookup from a party didn’t fill the void.

The void was Casey sized, and the only one who could fill that was the she-devil herself happily torturing him by sitting on his lap as if her grandfather couldn’t see every move in his rear view mirror.

The ride to Rick’s homestead took a good twenty-five minutes from the airfield in the opposite direction of Moose Lake’s town center. For Derek, increasingly aware of movement in a specific region being restricted by his jeans thanks to a certain someone holding on to him, it felt like hours. Sweet, torturous, hours.

They followed a dirt road until it disappeared and changed into worn grassy tracks through the deep forest. There wasn’t any sign of civilization, which was incredibly unnerving for Casey. Alaska truly couldn’t be further from the dazzling lights and busy streets of New York. 

“We’re about six miles from town,” Rick informed them, slowly creeping down the track. “My nearest neighbors are about two and a half miles west, the Millers. Lovely family with kids your age, Marti.”

Marti perked up at that. “Can we play?”

“Of course you can,” Rick replied, slowing down due to needing to off-road away from the track they were on. 

“Yay!” 

“Ah, here we are, home sweet home,” Rick said a couple moments later as he steered the truck onto a dirt road again. A small wooden sign was nailed to a tree at the start of the road, reading **Bennett Lodge.** A surprisingly decent sized cabin and out buildings loomed ahead, impressively standing tall against the treeline behind the property. “You can see my workshop, and the chicken coop from here,” Rick pointed out as they passed by the buildings. He pulled up in front of the cabin, parking the truck. “Well, here it is, my humble abode.”

All eyes took in the impressive log cabin in front of them, though a mountain lodge could perhaps be a more accurate way to describe it with its stone foundation. Steps led up to a porch that offered shelter from the elements via a portico, where stacks of wood neatly rested against the exterior of the home. There was a second floor based on the tall windows that seemed to look out over the property. A single story detached garage stood to the left side, while another building that looked suspiciously like an outhouse was set further back to the right.

Somewhere from inside the house, excited barks greeted them.

“That would be the greeting committee!” Rick cheerfully told them. “Anyone scared of dogs? No? Alright let me get those rascals out, they’re eager to say hello.”

He opened the front door. Three dogs of various sizes darted out in a flash of fur and wagging tails, absolutely beyond ecstatic to have new humans to demand pets from. 

“That’s Feta,” he said as Marti bent down to say hello to a golden retriever. “And that’s Cheddar,” he motioned towards a beagle running between Edwin and Vicky. 

“Who’s this cutie?!” Casey cooed as a springer spaniel rolled on its back for stomach rubs.

“That’s Gouda,” Rick said before whistling. “Inside ladies.” His dogs, well trained despite the chaos, immediately ran back to the front door.

“Right, come on in, grab the luggage, we can throw it onto the porch for now,” Rick led them towards the house, showing them the spot where they could leave their things. “Right,” he said, pushing open the door again and stepping inside. “First things first, this is the entrance way, where no outdoor shoes go beyond this tiled area.”

Immediately everyone kicked off their shoes. 

After a quick inspection that every shoe was in fact off, Rick walked further into the house. They were in the main living space, a room with warm exposed log walls and dark wood floors that shined in the glow of the afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows. Sturdy beams crossed the ceiling, in between which antler chandeliers were dispersed evenly to provide light during the evenings and dark snowy days.

Braided rugs were laid out where the couches were set up in front of the massive stone fireplace, which extended high towards the ceiling, and another was situated beneath a long, mahogany wood dining table near the rustic country style kitchen in the back of the house. The kitchen, from Casey’s angle, had an authentic wood burning stove that drew the eye of the central part of the kitchen space. She longed to make a cup of tea and place herself on one of the oversized leather couches, a throw around her shoulders as a fire burned in the fireplace. It was just so cozy, so inviting. Two of the dogs, Cheddar and Gouda, lay in beds in front of the fireplace. The other one, Feta, naughtily lounged on a chair.

Meanwhile, Derek’s eyes were drawn to the various taxidermy mounted on the walls above their heads; an impressive moose stared stoically down at the group from it’s mount halfway up the fireplace. A graceful doe was mounted on a different wall by the entrance, while a majestic small fox stood posed on a table. Derek even spotted, in a frame, a taxidermied bat that Marti immediately wandered over to look at.

“Ooh, so cool,” she said in an admiring tone. “I want one!” 

“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” Rick smiled, lovingly touching the frame. 

Across the room Lizzie examined the fox. “Did you hunt each of these, Grandpa?” 

“Yes,” Rick replied. “Except the bat. That was a gift.”

“Oh,” Lizzie cringed. “I don’t like the idea of hunting…”

“We hunt to feed ourselves, and a good, honorable hunter respects the animal they target,” Rick responded in a serious tone. “Hunting is on my list of things to do with you guys, but that’s more so because I need to hunt for my winter prep. It’s optional, Liz, don’t worry.”

“I think I’ll stay home that day,” Lizzie said, going to inspect the view from the windows. 

Derek wandered over to the fireplace mantle, where in a neat row, shotguns hung displayed. He had a mental image of Rick polishing them with care each evening, quick to ward off animals or even, Derek thought, meddlesome guys who wanted to touch his granddaughter. 

“Wow,” Vicky tilted her head up to look at the wooden beams that zigzagged across the space. “You built this all yourself Grandpa?”

“Every last log and stone,” Rick proudly said. “It’s an ongoing project. I’ve had some assistance from helping hands in our community, but this is a physical representation of hours and hours worth of my blood, sweat, and tears.”

“It’s really impressive,” Casey told him sincerely. “Mom and George are going to love it.”

“Speaking of parents,” Derek said. “Where are we all going to sleep?”

“Well, follow me and see,” Rick replied. He went up the stairs, leading them to a loft space that overlooked down into the living room. “This is my office area.” 

A mahogany wood desk and a leather chair were set up near the railing, and a series of bookshelves overflowing with books and dusty awards ran along the wall. A well worn couch was set up on the other wall, near two doors.

“This couch pulls out into a comfortable sleeper,” Rick said, demonstrating. “My bedroom is right there,” he pointed at one of the doors. “Now, I’m thinking this could be a good potential set up, but I tend to wake up early and work at my desk on the typewriter after morning chores. Behind this door,” he opened up the other one, revealing not a bedroom but a closet slash hobby room of some sort. “This is my project room, which doesn’t have any sleeping arrangements.”

“Is this all the bedrooms?” Vicky asked warily. 

“Goodness no, this way,” they followed him down the stairs again, this time to the kitchen area where there was a set of doors hidden from view in the living room. 

“This is the bathroom,” Rick opened one of them, revealing a modest set up. “Now that there is a compost toilet. We use sawdust in this house, I’ll show you the proper way to use it later. This was a dry cabin until last fall. But now we have running water, which is connected to the well out back through a filtering tank I have. Any problems, let me know straight away. The shower is a bit funny in here, so I actually prefer the outdoor set up during the warm months.”

“The outdoor setup?” Casey asked, her blue eyes comically round. “You have an outdoor shower?”

“An outdoor bath,” Rick clarified. “Nothing like taking a bath under the stars, lemme tell you. I’ll show that after the house tour.”

He opened the other door, revealing a set of stairs leading down. It turned out to be a half finished basement level of the cabin, with a series of rooms. He explained that sometimes he rented out the spaces to tourists, or even sometimes had helpers stay for extended amounts of time to learn about homesteading or carpentry, and even outdoor wilderness survival. 

“This one has twin beds in here,” Rick opened one of the doors. “And a pull out couch if need be.” The room was framed entirely in wood, with an old faded red carpet and a window at the top of the wall that let in natural sunlight. “And this room,” he opened one of the other doors. “Has a nice queen. I’m thinking this will be Nora and George’s, and this one next door,” he opened up the final door, revealing a smaller room whose bed took up most of the space, “Will be Fiona’s.”

“Can I sleep in here until Mom arrives,” Vicky asked, eyeing the smaller room. “I can figure something out when she gets here, but this will seriously do for now.”

Rick shrugged. “Sure, sure. I’ve got lots of nooks and crannies around,” he said, winking. “Including a smaller cabin out back that I occasionally rent out for those intending to follow the nature trails around here, but it’s bare basics.”

“I’ll take it!” Casey and Derek said at the same time. They glared at each other, though Derek’s glare was more of a sly smirk, and Casey’s a flirty bite of the lip. 

Rick took a pause, unsure of how to proceed. Most folks never wanted to willingly stay in the little cabin when they had the big one right there. “Maybe wait to see it first,” he suggested. “Any takers for the twin room?”

“I think me and Marti should take it,” Lizzie smartly said. “Ed, you can take the pullout, or we can move it out here if you want.”

“I’m not bothered,” Edwin yawned. He must have been truly exhausted to not put up a fight for an actual bed instead of the pullout. “I really don’t care so long as I can take a nap soon.”

“Go on and get your stuff, get comfortable,” Rick said. “There’s no rush at all for anything today. I’ll show you guys around the property later on, or tomorrow after my morning chores.

“Can we see the cabin,” Casey asked her grandpa as the others went to grab their things. “I’m picturing a cute rustic cabin.”

Rick’s eyes twinkled knowingly. “It’s rustic alright. Come on you two.”

After getting their shoes back on, he took them around the back of the cabin near the treeline to a small building that was also made of logs. They took a step up to a tiny porch, really just a platform, and through a solid door with a small port window into the most rustic set up Casey had ever seen. 

Everything was made of wood, the walls, the ceiling, and the floor; the whole space had a lovely, distinct earthy scent to it. A four post bed took up the center of the room, with some basic cupboard space built into the walls. A small wood burning stove that looked positively ancient sat in the corner of the room. A ladder off to the side led up to a cozy loft space, where a low futon was set up under a skylight. 

“Dibs on the loft,” Derek immediately said, clambering up. He quickly realized he couldn’t actually stand up in the space, but it didn’t bother him. There was another port window looking out into the woods behind them, and a lantern in each corner of the loft for lighting. His mind automatically pictured spending a late rainy morning in bed, preferably with a specific brunette….

“That’s fine. I’ll happily take this bed, it’s so nice Grandpa!”

Rick eyed them, an unreadable look on his face. “You sure you two want to be back here, together?” He sure looked like he didn’t want them to be, but at least he allowed them the option. “There’s no electricity in here…”

“We’re rooming together at Queens,” Casey casually said, her grandfather’s words not registering. She opened a door on the opposite of the ladder. “Oh another bathroom?”

“That’s another composting toilet,” Rick told them. “This is a completely off-grid dry cabin, so you’ll have to either use the bathroom in the main cabin for washing, or fill up a jug,” he nodded to one sitting on a side table, “and fill up a bowl for brushing teeth or washing your face. There’s an outdoor water pump you missed outside, you can use that for cold water. It’s sourced from the well.”

“Cool,” Derek came back down the ladder, coming to stand a respectable distance from Casey. Rick’s steely gaze narrowed on him, giving a once over. Derek took a slow breath, trying to maintain calmness despite the unnerving feeling in his stomach that crept up towards his mouth. 

(Felicia at her worst had never made him feel like this, but then again, she didn’t carry a weapon on her.)

“Now, if you two are back here,” Rick began, his gaze still on Derek. “It’s crucial you don’t forget to take a flashlight and bear spray with you if you leave the cabin at night.”

“Bear spray?” Casey echoed warily. 

“We get all sorts of animals trapezing through here, Casey. Bears, cougars, wolves, moose. We’re on their territory, after all. I fully intend on showing you each how to use a gun before letting you explore the outer boundaries of my land, and before taking you on some of the activities I have planned. Alaska is a beautiful place, but dangerous. I need to make sure you know how to protect yourselves.”

“Oh, okay,” Casey bit her lip, unconsciously taking a step closer to Derek. She hadn’t thought of wild animals before, though of course in hindsight she probably should have. 

Rick must have noticed her worried expression, because he then went on to say, “Don’t worry too much about it. Most of those animals I just named don’t tend to come this far east, and if they do, they’re just passing by.”

“Hey Case, I bet I can shoot at targets better than you,” Derek said in an attempt to distract her. He could practically see the wheels turning in her mind, probably coming up with scary scenarios. He did not need to deal with a freaked out, overtired Casey. But competitive Casey? No brainer.

Her entire demeanor shifted at the sound of a challenge. “No way, I’m far more patient than you are, I’ll probably hit the targets far more accurately.”

“I’m more coordinated,” Derek countered, slipping effortlessly into familiar ground. “You’ll probably accidentally shoot off target. The animals will see you with a gun and go oh god who let her have that?”

“Der-ek,” Casey gasped. “I will be super cautious, don’t listen to him, Grandpa.”

Rick warily looked between the pair. “Right, well, we can worry about that later. How about you get your luggage, and I’ll get started on my evening chores around the land. I’ll have a late dinner ready for you guys closer to eight if anyone is still awake.”

+

Dinner turned out to be a casserole dish made with vegetables from Rick’s garden. He told them about his property, and the animals he had, and a bit about the history of Moose Lake.  
“Only about 30 families live around here, give or take,” he said. “Moose Lake is small, but mighty in community spirit. I’ll take you to the actual boundaries of the town, let you guys explore at some point.”

“Is there anything to actually do in town?” Edwin whispered skeptically to Lizzie. 

“I don’t think it’s even a real town,” she whispered back, shrugging. “Hey, look.”’

Across the table, Derek stared at Casey as she excitedly chatted to Rick about some of her time in New York, and how much she was looking forward to being at Queens finally, notably, with Derek.

“It’s as if I’ve been in a dream like state the past year, and I’ve finally woken up,” she said, giving Derek a small smile. “I don’t regret New York, but I think Queens is really where I should have been.”

“Academic pursuits are always noble,” Rick thoughtfully said, sipping his cup of water that he proudly declared the freshest in all of Moose Lake. “But exploring your passions is just as important. “It’s really great you tried out dancing professionally. Now you know for sure what it’s like, and you won’t be left to wonder ‘what if’ five, ten, even twenty years from now.”

“Yeah,” Casey blushed for an unknown reason, giving Derek the briefest of looks. “Now I know for sure what I want,” she softly said, more so to herself than the table at large. Derek’s eyes widened just the smallest fraction as she looked again at him. There was a charged, significant stare down before they both averted their gaze. 

Vicky caught Lizzie’s eyes, mouthing, _see what I mean?_ before turning to ask Rick more about what he had planned for them. 

(Lizzie wanted to say she had a whole binder in her luggage showing exactly what Vicky meant, but alas, wrong places and time to go there.)

“Shooting lessons, fishing trips, camping up on the Western Bear Trail, just to name a few. I have a surprise that I’m working on, but I won’t say yet what that is.”

“I love surprises,” Marti said, yawning into her hand. 

“I think it’s bedtime, Smarti,” Derek observed as she yawned again. An affection smile spread across his face, absolutely mesmerizing Casey. God she was so weak. She found it incredibly attractive when he turned on the protective, caring older persona with Marti. 

“I’m not tired,” she protested, just as another yawn overtook her. 

“I think your brother is right,” Casey said, ignoring Derek’s smirk. “Shut up Derek.”

“I didn’t say anything.. But you did,” he replied. “Say it again, Case.”

“No,” Casey rolled her eyes. “Absolutely not. Savor it for what it was, Der. A brief and rare moment of you being right.”

“He’s not right!” Marti half whined, indicating that yes, her oldest brother was fully correct in his assumption that bedtime called. 

“Come on Smarti, I’ll tell you a story,” Derek stood up from the table, coaxing her to join him. “Thank you for dinner, Rick.”

“You’re welcome. Sweet dreams, Marti. Get a full night sleep, you’ll need it for the plans we have tomorrow,” Rick said, bidding her goodnight.

“Do you need help with cleaning up?” Casey stacked Derek’s plate on top of her own, ready to spring into the role of dutiful, polite guest and granddaughter.

“No, no don’t worry about that tonight,” Rick said, standing up from the table. “I’ll take you up on that later, but for now I think you guys should relax. I can get the fire going.”

So that's where Derek found Casey after coming back upstairs a little while later, sprawled out on one of the couches with a throw blanket over her lap as one of the dogs, Feta, dozed on her feet. Lizzie and Edwin were half asleep on the other couch, Cheddar between them. Vicky was in the kitchen, chatting with Rick.

“Move over Spacey,” Derek shoved her lightly in an attempt to get her to move. 

“I’m comfy, there’s chairs,” she waved her hand in the general direction of one of the overstuffed chairs nearby. “Go sit there.”

“But I want to be comfy too, and this is the most comfortable couch here,” Derek said. It was a total bull line, and she knew it. But still, she didn’t put up a fight. She sat up, throwing Feta an apologizing look when her feet disturbed the dog. Feta huffed, jumping to the floor. Derek sat down, pretending to be annoyed when Casey immediately placed her feet in his lap. 

“Marti asleep?” Casey asked him, tossing the blanket back so that it covered both of them. 

“She’s out cold, she fell asleep before I even got past ‘once upon a time.’”

“To be honest, I think I might fall asleep too,” Lizzie’s voice was thick with exhaustion. “I’m calling it. Goodnight everyone.”

“Night Liz,” Casey said, watching her sister stumbled sleepily to the kitchen to head down to her shared room. Edwin promptly stretched out further on the couch, pulling Cheddar to his chest. 

“I don’t think I have enough energy to even go downstairs,” he said. “The jet lag is hitting hard.”

“I should get started on brushing my teeth,” Casey sighed. Derek’s hand grazed her ankle, moving to tickling the soles of her feet. “Der-ek,” she whined. “Stop that.”

“I don’t even want to know,” Edwin said, his eyes closed. 

“I’m not doing anything,” Derek defensilvey said, all the while his hands began to knead Casey’s feet. She whimpered, pushing her feet further into his hands. “So bossy,” Derek murmured, continuing the slow, deliberate press of his fingers. 

“That feels so good,” Casey admitted, leaning further back into the couch.

“Oh my god,” Edwin groaned. “Please. Take it somewhere else. I beg of you.”

“Don’t you dare stop, Derek,” Casey quickly said.

He chuckled. “Wasn’t going to, Princess.”

“Yes by all means, continue to traumatize the middle child,” Edwin darkly muttered. 

“Ew, Edwin,” Casey threw a pillow at him. “It’s not like that.”

Edwin placed the pillow on his face, his voice muffled. It sounded suspiciously like _get a room_ to Derek’s ears, but he let it slide. Because his brother had a point, they did have a room waiting for their use. But Casey, being Casey, would never in a million years go for what he had in mind to make full use of the private rustic cabin… Casey underneath him on the bed, the lanterns all lit and her making similar sounds to the whimper that left her lips when he rubbed her feet…..

His dick twitched at the mere thought.

“Uh, right well I need to get ready for bed,” Derek jumped up from the couch, startling Casey as her feet fell with a heavy clad to the floor.

“Der-ek, watch it,” she huffed. “Wait for me, I don’t want to go outside alone!”

Derek walked purposefully towards the back door, aware of the rising situation in his jeans. “Hurry up then Spacey!”

“Derek, hold on,” Rick called out. 

Derek paused, looking at Casey’s grandfather with a tight smile. He leaned against one of the kitchen counters, hiding the erection that was pressing painfully against the restrictive fabric. 

“Here’s a flashlight, and the bear spray I mentioned earlier,” Rick handed them over to Derek. “There should be a big bowl and jug already in the smaller cabin for gathering water in the pump.” 

“Okay, thanks,” Derek said in a slightly choked voice. He needed to go before Rick realized the issue. He was an observant man, he would see it. Oh god, Casey would see it too.

“You alright, son?” Rick asked, looking as if he would come around the counter to inspect Derek closer.

“Fine, just fine, I’m just tired,” Derek quickly said. “I’m off to bed, goodnight Rick, Vicky.”

Vicky eyed him with a suspicious curl of the lip, a teacup clutched in her hand. 

“Come on Spacey,” Derek said towards the living room. “Unless you want to tempt the short walk to the cabin without adequate protection…”

That did it, Casey appeared in the kitchen a second later. Derek was already out the door and out of view by the time she finally made it outside a minute later. 

“I need the bathroom first,” Derek gruffly said when they got into their shared space, grabbing the jug from a shelf. 

“Whatever,” Casey said, rummaging through her suitcase for pajamas. 

Derek went back out to the water pump, flashlight in hand. The cool of the evening air felt relieving against his flushed skin. He cupped his hand under the water as it poured out, the cold shocking his skin which helped to calm down. 

God it would a long couple of weeks if they were going to be flirting so openly with each other. 

He walked back inside to Casey in a state of undress. She had on tiny - so tiny, practically non-existent, _tiny_ \- athletic shorts and an obnoxiously huge _I love NY_ t-shirt that fell off her shoulders, revealing the creaminess of her skin.

“I’ve fresh water,” Derek told her, frozen in his tracks as his eyes drank the sight of her impossibly long and toned legs. 

“Okay great, thanks,” she tied up her hair into a messy bun before grabbing her toothbrush and toothpaste. “You wanted the bathroom?”

“Uh, yeah,” Derek intelligently replied, forcing himself to walk to the small room. 

“Wait, Der,” she touched his arm, stopping him further. 

“Huh?” His eyes darted to her lips. 

“You need some water to wash your hands?” A line furrowed between Casey’s eyebrows. “Here, take this bowl.”

“Right,” he hastily replied, shaking his head to clear himself out of the stupor he was in. 

He was so screwed.

+

A half hour later, while Derek attempted to sleep in the loft, Casey finally finished her bedtime routine of skincare and light stretching. She turned off the oil lamp on the bedside table, throwing the cabin into near complete darkness. It was eerily quiet. Somewhere in the distance, a lone wolf howled breaking the silence. 

“Eek!” Casey screeched, launching herself onto the four poster at full speed. She landed hard on the bed, the weight of her body causing the bed to creak ominously. She sighed, relieved to be safe under the covers. 

But then.

An awful splintering sound echoed in the room. 

“What the f- oof!” 

The bed fell to the floor, the frame smashing around Casey. 

“Holy shit, are you okay Case?” Derek raced down the ladder, jumping half way. He stared at her bewilderedly, squinting in the darkness. 

“I’m fine, but the bed isn’t,” Casey quipped. 

“Shit,” he bent down, giving her his hand to help her stand up from the wreckage. “Should we get your grandfather?”

“NO,” she blurted out. “No, there’s no need to.”

“But your bed -”

“He’ll just make me go into the main cabin and I’ll have to sleep on the pull out couch in the loft,” Casey hastily explained. “And I’m sure he’s already asleep.”

“So where are you sleeping then? Because that bed is out of commission now,” Derek said, running a hand through his messy hair. The next words out of her mouth sent his heart into overdrive. 

“I’ll sleep in your bed,” she said in such a matter of fact tone. 

“My bed?” His eyebrows rose to his hairline. “But then where am I supposed to sleep, princess? You can’t just kick me out of my bed.”

She rolled her eyes. “With me, duh.”

“And if I don’t want to share with you?”

“Your loss then,” Casey shrugged, tugging her hand out of his; Derek hadn’t even realized they were still holding hands until he felt the emptiness where her warm hand had been in his.

He sighed dramatically. “I suppose I have enough room. Come on, off to bed.”

She followed him up the ladder, noting the low ceiling height. The loft was truly an intimate space. Romantic, even. Casey shoved her wandering thoughts to the back of her brain. The current objective was sleep, not … activities that could potentially take place in a bed. 

“Der-ek, move over, you’re hogging the bed,” Casey whined once she slipped under the covers.

“Case-eee,” Derek mimicked. “Uh, it’s my bed for the next few weeks. I can hog it all I want. You’re the one who asked to share it with me.”

“Yeah, share, not hog! I need some room, I’m literally on the edge of the bed,” she protested, wiggling against him in a failed attempt to make him move. He sucked in a breath, trying to keep his composure. This proved difficult when Casey’s breasts pushed softly, dangerously, across his body.

“You know it’s a lot comfier for the both of us if we do this instead,” Derek suddenly wrapped an arm around her, pulling her onto his chest. His arms remained securely cocooned around her, sending her heart into a frenzy at the closeness between them. Casey’s body felt hot all over, aware of how firm his chest, and his arms, and his legs, were against her. 

Casey wasn’t blind. She could see in daylight how fit Derek was from playing hockey and keeping in shape. But feeling the edges of his abs underneath her fingertips? That was a whole other thing all together.

“Stop doing that,” Derek gruffly said as Casey’s hand lightly grazed his chest in circles. “It tickles.”

It was also sending blood rushing to a certain part of his anatomy, and he really didn’t need Casey to realize that. Her leg was dangerously close to brushing that region as it was. 

He sucked in a breath as she ignored his plea.

“Sorry,” she innocently said. She didn’t sound sorry in the least.

“Go to sleep,” he ordered, his voice low and gritty in her ear.

“Fine,” she whispered, her hand stilling. 

Derek closed his eyes, ready to concentrate on forcing sleep.

Casey stared up at the stars shining brilliantly in the sky above, the skylight offering an unrestricted view of the night sky. 

She couldn’t believe how daring, how brazen she had been in her suggestion to share his bed with her. It’s just that, they kept touching each other, all day long. And the flirtations, which had always been present since before she even realized they were flirtations, were long since beginning to make her want more than an exchange of words. 

Casey closed her eyes, more than ready for sleep. But any sleepiness she had prior to bedtime had evaporated. Her heart continued to beat fast, an undercurrent of electricity and adrenaline coursing through her veins as she felt Derek’s chest steadily rise and fall beneath her head. It didn’t help matters that it was stuffy and hot in the loft. 

She bit her lip, trying to ignore the fact she felt overheated. 

But ignoring it did nothing but make her feel even more hot and cranky due to the fact she couldn’t fall asleep. She sighed, rolling over out of Derek’s grasp. A small sound of protest escaped his mouth. 

Casey laid in the dark for several more moments before turning again. God why was it so damn hot in this loft? It was so much cooler outside. She knew, logically, heat rose. But she definitely shouldn’t be feeling this way.  
“Stop tossing and turning,” Derek grumbled sleepily. 

“It's hot up here,” Casey whined, turning again. She threw her leg over his, her eyes on his face as he pretended to be asleep. “Der-ek.”

“I can’t control that,” Derek replied, reaching behind his head to adjust his pillow. 

“But it’s hot,” Casey pouted, even though his eyes were firmly shut. 

“Then try taking off your shirt, sleeping naked helps cool the body down,” Derek suggested. Casey could see the slight smirk on his face in the moonlight that poured from the skylight above them.

“You just want to get me naked,” Casey murmured, seriously debating it. She needed immediate relief from the heat. 

“Maybe,” Derek flirted back, cracking an eye open. “Can’t blame me for being pro-nakedness, Case. I’ve got a gorgeous girl cuddling up beside me. Of course I’d want that.”

“You think I’m gorgeous?” Casey asked, surprised. 

“You know you’re gorgeous,” Derek rolled his eyes. “Every person on planet earth knows you’re gorgeous.”

“Aw, Derek,” Casey beamed. She bit her lip, thinking it over. “I’m taking off my shirt. No funny business. This is purely to get relief from the stuffiness up here.”

“Uh huh,” Derek averted his gaze as she began to pull her shirt off; it was, after all, the gentleman thing to do. A blur of white flew in the peripheral of his vision. Casey was topless beside him. _Topless!_

His brain started imagining what she looked like beside him, the temptation to look suffocating. Maybe just a peek? She moved, presumably getting comfortable in bed again. Surely she wasn’t facing him, she wouldn’t chance having him see her.

Derek risked it, tilting his head just so to see…

Only to realize she was staring at him, sitting up in the futon. Her bun grazed the low ceiling, her breasts perky and jutting out from the perfect posture she sat in; her skin glowed in the moonlight making her seem like a real life goddess. 

He stared back, shocked at the open casualness Casey calmly displayed under his intense gaze. 

Her eyes flickered to his lips. They were slightly parted, and very inviting. She tilted her head, as though having a silent conversation with herself before she nodded, just so. Derek opened his mouth to say something, but before his words stupidly broke the spell they were both under, Casey propelled her body forward, her legs straddling his thighs as she leaned down, her lips finding his. 

Automatically Derek’s hands found her hips, keeping her in place as he thrusted up, creating sweet, sweet friction between them. Casey immediately responded, rubbing against him. 

She broke off the kiss briefly to marvel, “Wow you’re so hard.” 

Derek nipped at her collarbone, grunting. “Gorgeous girl,” nip, “naked,” bite, “basic anatomy,” his tongue licked the red spot blooming before he captured her lips again. His hands wandered up her bare back, landing at the base of her hair. His grip tightened slightly, sending an unexpected shudder of delight down her spine. 

“Der-ek,” Casey moaned as his lips moved away from her again, trailing kisses down her neck before landing on one of her pert nipples. His mouth felt tantalizingly warm as he gave a hard suck, his tongue swirling around to sooth it before sucking again. Casey grinded into him, a breathy whine escaping from deep within her throat. 

Derek flipped them over so that Casey laid back against the mattress, her legs wrapping around his waist. She bit his lip, pulling him closer to her as her hand reached down to stroke the hard erection that begged for release. 

Derek paused briefly in his movements as she slowly worked him, base to tip and back again. Her touch felt incredible, almost too much so. He gently pushed her hand away, sucking in a deep breath. 

“That feels so good,” he whispered reassuringly to her when confusion clouded her eyes. “Maybe too good.. I want… I want to actually feel you, Case, not your hand…”

Her eyes widened in understanding. “Oh,” she shyly said. He couldn’t tell for sure in the dim light, but she probably had pink stained cheeks and it drove him wild with more desire for her, he loved it when she blushed. 

His hand brushed against the tiny shorts she wore, before tugging them down and finding she had on no underwear. Derek’s fingers trailed against the folds of her most intimate area, the pad of his thumb finding her clit and circling it. 

“You’re so wet,” Derek commented with utter awe, his hands steadily stroking her. “Are you wet just for me?”

“Yes,” Casey arched into his hand, needing more friction. “Just for you.”

He pressed a kiss on her stomach, and then her hip, as he slipped two fingers inside of her. The movement made Casey moan, louder, the stimulation of her cliterious beginning to slowly build towards an orgasm. She can feel it, just out of reach. 

“Please don’t stop,” she said, desperate for release. Touching herself had never made her feel this good. It had been far too long since she last had someone else in control. That the someone being Derek made it all the more enticing. He obliged her command, experimenting with speed and listening to the breathless sounds Casey made until he could tell she was on the verge of coming. 

“Come for me Case,” he whispered in her ear, the strokes of his fingers relentless. “Please come for me, you’re so sexy when you make those sounds.”

“Derek,” Casey gasped a moment later, her eyes sliding shut and her nose scrunching cutely. “Omg, Derek, I’m going to, just like that, please, omg.”

She clenched around his fingers, her body shaking as she came with a loud moan that turned him on like nothing else. The sound she made burned into his mind, living on in his memory for all of eternity from then on. He eased his hand away when she calmed her breath, a smile gracing her gorgeous face. Derek pressed a kiss against her nose.

“Derek,” she said, her hands resting on his chest. She could feel how hard his dick was, tangled together as they were. She tightened her legs around him, tilting her body up to arch against him suggestively. “Um, I’m on the pill you know…”

“Are you sure,” Derek breathed in, his smoldering gaze carefully looking her over. “Because holy shit Case, what we just did is more than enough, we don’t have to if you don’t want...”

“I want to,” Casey firmly kissed his lips, shutting him up.

He broke away a moment later, regretfully. “Okay but I don’t have a condom, since I wasn’t expecting anything… family vacation and all….”

“I’m on the pill,” she repeated, uncharacteristically unconcerned. “And I’m clean. Are you?”

“Uh, yeah,” Derek blinked in surprise at her chillness about the whole thing. “If you’re sure, I’m more than okay with that. Just… if you change your mind, let me know, okay? I’m more than happy to wait,” he murmured before pressing a gentle kiss on her lips. 

“Okay,” her breath ghosted his lips when he pulled away. She grinded against him impatiently. “But less worrying, more sex.”

“It turns me on when you’re bossy,” Derek muttered, rubbing his dick against her slowly. She felt slick and warm against him as he did so; he hesitated just a moment before entering her. It felt almost overwhelming when he tested out rotating his hips, snapping in and out of her. She met every single thrust, her hips moving in time with him. Her legs crept higher up his back until Derek moved them to straddle his shoulders, allowing better access. 

“It’s really hot how flexible you are,” Derek gasped as he went deep inside of her. 

“Thanks,” Casey moaned before uttering a little scream, their current angle setting her ablaze with pleasure. “Der-ek, omg, harder.”

“Like this,” he cockily asked, pulling almost all the way out before slamming back into her, his hands firmly gripping her waist. He did it again as she let out another scream. He wondered idly if anyone could hear them from inside the main cabin, and prayed fervently that they were far enough away to dilute the sounds coming from Casey’s lips, or at least be mistaken for animal noises. 

“Keep going,” Casey urged, meeting the increasingly frantic pace Derek was moving.

He could feel himself on the cusp of coming, but her words were surrounding him, giving him reason to fight the instinct taking hold until he no longer had control. He stilled, breathless, as his orgasm took over. He pressed his forehead against her, not minding the fact they were both a bit sticky with sweat. He pulled out carefully, rolling onto his back, his hand finding Casey’s as they caught their breath. 

“Um, so that was pretty incredible,” Derek said, casting her a grin. Did she regret it? She met his eye, offering a smile of her own. 

“Not bad,” she teased. “Not bad at all. Ten/ten would do it again.”

“Oh yeah?” He waggled his eyebrows cockily. 

“Yeah,” she replied, sitting up. “But I need to, um, take care of myself. So, I’ll be right back…”

Derek watched her go down the ladder, his mind racing. He just had sex with Casey. Casey! All the fantasies he ever had could never come close to what he just experienced with her. One taste of the real thing, and he was addicted. He desperately hoped she wouldn’t wake up in the morning and regret it, because he absolutely did not for a second regret what they just did. 

Any freakout that may occur - inevitably occur, because it was Casey after all - he planned to approach full on without wavering. He had to prove to her that it was more than just sex for him. It always had been. He didn’t know if he believed in God, but he prayed that if there was one listening, a miracle would happen. He wanted Casey, all of her, for as long as she would let him. Come what may.

She came back up the ladder a few moments later, still without her pajamas on. She climbed into bed beside Derek. 

“Aren’t you going to clean up too?” She asked, all prim and proper like. It made him laugh, the reappearance of hygienic conscious Casey.

“If I do, will you let me cuddle you,” he leaned up on his forearms, cocking an eyebrow. 

She pretended to think it over. “Yes,” she said, shooing him out of bed. “Hurry back, I want to sleep and I’ve decided your my new favorite pillow.”

“Yes dear,” he dryly replied, getting up. He rushed in the bathroom, returning in record time back into bed where she waited patiently. The minute he settled in, she crawled into his arms, exhaustion finally taking over. 

“Goodnight Der,” she whispered, her hand finding his. She squeezed it, closing her eyes. 

“Sweet dreams, Case,” he whispered back, refusing to let go of her hand. 

They fell asleep to the stillness of the cabin, their breathing the only sound to be heard. 


End file.
